


New Beginnings on an Open Page

by Owlwithafringe



Series: The Merlin Arts Fest [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Music, Musician Arthur, Photographer Merlin, Photography, Social Media, Tumblr, YouTube, emailing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 13:57:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4481840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlwithafringe/pseuds/Owlwithafringe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Ladyofthelake said:</b> Who is the cutie patootie playing the guitar in that new pic of yours? Do you have a new beau, you whore? </p><p><b>Magic-Emrys replied:</b> Alas freya, I do not – I’m set to be perpetually alone, to admire handsome musicians through my camera lens. Please come by later with chocolate so we can discuss the collection of cats I will own when I die alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Beginnings on an Open Page

**Author's Note:**

> For Week 3 of The Merlin Arts Fest. It's late, but who cares?

Merlin was a photographer. Not in the sense that people on Instagram were ‘photographers’, but in the fact that he was actually paying a university to teach him about the composition of a photo for a hefty nine grand a year. In fairness it wasn’t just any university. It was University of the Arts - the university Merlin had dreamed of going to since he’d discovered it as a teenager.

When he got in, it was one of the happiest days of his life. His mother cried and his best friend Will told him he was a traitor for moving to the city and they all sat in front of the telly and a Chinese for dinner in celebration. That had been a good night.

He was in his second year now, enjoying everything much more than he thought possible. He loved what he studied, he’d managed to find some great friends and city life suited him. Not to mention the internet connection was ten times better in London than it was back in Ealdor, which obviously was an important factor to be considered when moving across the country especially when he relied on it so heavily.

There was almost never an instance when Merlin could be found without his camera. His friend Gwen said she would almost believe that he slept with it, like a teddy bear, if she hadn’t had so many sleepovers with him to know that wasn’t actually the case. But he always needed his camera close, in case something happened that he needed to take a photo of. Because once that moment had gone, it was gone forever: and the only true and honest way to record that moment is on film. Or in Merlin’s case, digital film.

And it wasn’t because it made him look like a hipster no matter what his friends said. So what, he lived in black skinny jeans and scarves? He _liked_ them, and Gwaine could shut his whore mouth. 

When he had time to spare, Merlin loved wandering around the city with his camera and just exploring. He always came home with some fantastic shots and a grin on his face. Photography wasn’t just a job but it was his hobby too, so if those photos weren’t ever used for a school assignment then it didn’t really matter. 

He always liked putting his favourite photographs onto his blog, almost like an online journal of where he’d been, what he’d been doing. Sometimes he could look back at his pictures and even be able to tell what mood he was in just by what he had decided to photograph that day. 

That day, Merlin had been drifting around Hyde Park stopping to take photos of trees or to pet a passing dog sniffing at his leg. After an hour or so he decided there were simply too many people out to take any decent photos and that he was getting hungry, so he decided to leave the park behind to take The Underground home to have some lunch and perhaps start on that essay that was due for next week.

Merlin was walking along the platform, looking for somewhere out the way to stand to wait for his tube to arrive when he managed to hear it, despite the noise of machinery and people everywhere. 

Leant against one of the tiled walls was a blonde man, eyes closed and head forward as he expertly played the guitar. His guitar case was open in front of him, making the fact obvious that he was busking but Merlin was enraptured by the way this stranger played. The man himself had a strong jaw and nose and Merlin had no doubt that if he opened his eyes, that they’d probably be blue. He was classically handsome, but he wasn’t just physically beautiful, the way he played was too.

He played like he wasn’t even part of this world, like he had carved out his own little corner of reality to play in. He looked like he was in a dream, utterly content with the simple action of strumming. Merlin wondered how so many people could just walk pass this man without even a glance. It would be travesty if Merlin could even ever understand it.

Without even thinking about it, Merlin pulled out his camera and switched it on. Keeping his eyes on the busker, he lifted the camera up and adjusted the lens to zoom in and focus, finger poised over the button to capture the image. 

Taking a breath, he pushed down and the shutter clicked, signalling the photo had been taken. Merlin took another one, just in case something was wrong with the first one, exactly the same except Merlin felt less reverent about the ordeal.

Merlin lowered his camera, and stared at the man almost enviously, who was unaware of what had just transpired. Merlin was about to step forward, to go and put some of his loose change into the musician’s guitar case but just as he had decided on the notion, his own ride home pulled up at the station beside him.

Reluctantly, Merlin boarded and took his place in the carriage, surrounded by a swarm of people, still watching the man play. He wanted to listen to the man more, to take some more photos. Something about him intrigued him in a way he had never been before. He felt inspired by him. Perhaps he’d be busking again tomorrow.

It wasn’t until later that evening when he was uploading the photos from his trip out onto his laptop to choose some of the best shots to put on his blog that he came across the shot he had taken of the Guitar Man. He had a few thousand followers on Tumblr – apparently people seemed to like his photography, but his photos never usually got more than a few hundred notes, other than the occasional post.

Sometimes with his photos, he’d photo shop them to crop them or add blurred outlines or highlight colours. The photo was great, yes, but it felt like it was missing something. Merlin pondered with the thought for a moment before hesitantly adding a black and white filter.

He sat back and assessed his with work with a smile. _Perfect._ Merlin quickly posted it onto his blog along with a few others that were half decent and with that, Merlin closed the lid and stalked off to see if Gwen finished ordering their takeout pizza, and left his laptop alone for the rest of the night.

 

*****

 

Arthur woke to the sound of his alarm clock blaring, seven am on the dot. Even living a life his Father would have found frivolous and impractical, Arthur still found old habits he inherited from him hard to break. 

Arthur was not a morning person in the slightest despite his habit of waking early. Ironically, he was more of a night person meaning he was usually up late and then awake early, so it usually took at least two or three cups of black coffee before he felt any semblance of humanity.

His kitchen table was scattered with half finished sheets of music paper and other random shit Arthur had left lying around. He could see the outline of a ukulele of all things, underneath wads of paper. He was aware of the fact that he really needed to clean up but it was just so much effort. He wondered if he could bribe Morgana to help by buying her expensive shoes. Actually that was a pretty good idea, to file away for use later.

Arthur spent most of the morning pottering around his flat, playing his guitar and deciding to finally clean some of the coffee mugs that had been loitering for a week if not more. Some of them had started growing mould in them much to Arthur’s disgust and morbid curiosity. 

It was close to lunch time when Arthur decided to check his email. There were a few unread emails in his inbox, mostly just alerts from Amazon and Twitter asking if ‘knows these people’. However there was one email of interest, from his sister. He raised his eyebrows at the subject title as he clicked on it, wondering what she was sending him this time – last time it had been a link to sign up to a dating website, the cheeky witch. If he sent her things like that she’d probably kill him with one of her stilettos and hide his body in the Thames.

 

From: morganapendragon@hotmail.co.uk  
To: arthurpendragon@hotmail.co.uk  
Subject: Congratulations on Internet fame

_Brother Dearest,_

_Imagine my surprise, when I logged onto Tumblr this morning to find this. Apparently it’s gone viral too. By a friend of yours? Surprisingly, it’s not too bad, perhaps that’s why it’s gone viral. Either that or people are so utterly pretentious that they can’t resist the ‘hipsterness’ of it. Usually you look constipated in photos. I presume you haven’t seen it yet, so you’re welcome._

_Your most favourite sister, Morgana_

 

Arthur stared at the email with confusion as he read it. What the hell was Morgana talking about? He clicked on the link she had attached and it opened up a new tab, linking him to a Tumblr page. It took him a moment to realise what he was staring at, before it dawned that he was looking a picture of himself. One from him playing yesterday, if memory and the date stamp were to be believed. 

Not that he’d ever admit it, but Morgana was right in the fact that he wasn’t particularly photogenic if he knew there was a camera pointed in his direction. Call it a genetic fault. 

But in this photo, he was completely unaware. Well obviously he was, he had no idea someone had taken a photo of him. But it wasn’t just that. He looked totally lost in what he was playing. It was strange to see what he looked like from the outside, caught in that single second. He realised with a startling clarity, that he looked content.

The photographer had done a good job, no doubt about it. And apparently other random bloggers thought so too. Fifty thousand notes? In less than one day? That was ridiculous. Who’d want to reblog a picture of him? Maybe Morgana was onto something with her hipster idea. 

It didn’t answer the question though, of who had taken it. Arthur bookmarked the page before clicking onto the photographer’s main blog. His, or maybe it was a her, username was **Magic-Emrys**. Weird choice of username, but then it was Tumblr. There was even weirder shit floating around in the darker corners of the website. Arthur tried to stay well away from it. _Superwholock._

The photographers theme was quite simple and clean, but gave it an air of professionalism. Perhaps this person did it for a living? It wouldn’t be such a stretch, judging by some of the other photos on his page. No more new photos had been posted since yesterday, some of which he recognised to be from Hyde Park, but there had been some asks answered that morning. As Arthur scrolled down to read them, he felt vaguely like a stalker. But he was totally justified in his tumblr stalking. He wasn’t the one taking photos of strangers, right?

 

 **Ladyofthelake said:** who is the cutie patootie playing the guitar in that new pic of yours? do you have a new beau, you whore? 

**Magic-Emrys replied:** alas freya, i do not – i’m set to be perpetually alone, to admire handsome musicians through my camera lens. please come by later with chocolate so we can discuss the collection of cats i will own when i die alone.

 

So apparently Sneaky Photographer Person knew this user in real life. And they thought he was handsome. Arthur tried to not let the rush of gratification inflate his ego too much. Another comment read, 

 

 **Anonymous said:** wow, ok, so i’ve been totally in love with your photography for a while now but that photo you just put up of the guy is incredible. totally love it  <3

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** hey nonny! thank you for the kind message! definitely made my morning! i’m really surprised by all the attention the photo has gotten, but i’m really proud of it so i’m glad everyone likes it. 

 

Arthur didn’t use his Tumblr account for much, mostly just to advertise his music: posting links to his youtube account, links to videos or audio. He most certainly didn’t use it to send random strangers messages, however Arthur was very seriously considering doing so. 

Why the hell not? With a small smile that couldn’t be described as anything other than smug, he quickly typed out a message in Magic-Emrys’s ask box. Happy with what he had written, he clicked the send button and sat back in his seat with great satisfaction. With a grin he shut the laptop lid and wandered off to go and tune his guitar and to try and finish, for once, composing a song.

 

*****

 

“How does it feel to be Tumblr famous?” Gwen asked just as Merlin took a sip of his tea. He spluttered briefly, before turning to glare at her. She may look innocent and harmless but he knew better. Prolonged friendship would educate you in all manners of ways. Sometimes having Gwen for a friend was like simultaneously having a mother, an older sister and a girlfriend all at the same time. Merlin shuddered at the thought.

“You saw the post then?” Merlin replied, swapping his cup of tea in favour of taking a bite out of the chocolate muffin in front of him. He had been quite surprised himself to wake up that morning to see his activity had gone through the roof, all thanks to a particular photo. 

Gwen nodded as she used a spoon to scoop up the half melted marshmallows from her hot chocolate and into her mouth. Merlin raised an eyebrow. She chewed a little more ferociously. Mouth half full she spoke. “Freya sent me a link. You know I hardly ever go on Tumblr. Whilst you pretend to the internet that you have a life, I on the other hand actually do.”

“Harsh words Smith. Truly, they wound me.” Merlin drawled. Even as he said it though, his fingers twitched in want to check his phone.

“I’m sure.” Gwen replied with a smirk. She looked utterly too satisfied with herself, and Merlin wondered for the hundredth time that day why he didn’t get new friends. (And he always answered, because he loved his ones too much.) She gestured at his pocket. “Go on then. I know you want to go on it. I don’t mind. I’ll just talk to myself instead.”

Unsure as to whether or not she was actually joking, Merlin quickly grabbed his phone if only to ease himself for a moment so he could carry on his conversation without distraction. Making good use of the cafe’s free wifi Merlin unlocked his phone onto Tumblr, to find a message in his inbox. 

He’d had a couple of messages that morning, so he was hardly surprised to have another one but he was still curious to see what it read, so he quickly tapped on the icon. 

As he read, his eyes widened and he nearly dropped in his phone in surprise. “Gwen?”

However, she apparently had been serious about talking to herself and was in the middle of a what was no doubt very interesting conversation with herself.

“Do you really think I could make it on Broadway Gwen?”

Merlin didn’t look up from his phone. “Gwen.”

“Of course Gwen, you’ll be a star. Everyone in Hollywood is going to want a piece of you.”

Again. “Gwen.”

“Why thank you Gwen, you flatter me so. Don’t worry, I’ll remember you when I’m famous.”

Louder and a little bit sterner this time. “Gwen!”

Gwen looked at him. “Oh, so you’ve remembered my existence now?”

Merlin glanced up at her. Normally an apology would be on the tip of his tongue – he knew how he could be sometimes, but instead he slid his phone across the table to Gwen. “Look at it.”

“I know for a fact that your Mother taught you how to say please Merlin. It wouldn’t kill you to say it sometimes.” She picked up the phone and blinked at the screen blankly. “What? What am I looking at? Another message from your hoards of admirers?”

“The message at the top, look at the message at the top.”

Gwen rolled her eyes at Merlin’s tone, as if Merlin being a drama queen wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Which obviously was untrue, he most certainly was not a drama queen. Her smile began to slowly fade though, the further into the message she got.

“Oh. Oh shit Merlin. Are you sure it’s him?” Gwen looked at him, phone clutched tightly in her hand. Her eyes were wide with concern, which Merlin did appreciate but it didn’t really help him much in the situation.

“It’s him in the profile pic. So yeah, it’s him.” Merlin replied miserably. He shoved the plate with his half eaten chocolate muffin to the side, abandoned, so he could rest his head against the table in his arms. For a moment he considered banging his head against the table but that might possibly be more embarrassing than everything that was already happening. 

Maybe he was over exaggerating though. Maybe he was being a drama queen after all. It wasn’t that bad, was it? He could deal with it perfectly fine, he was a grown man for Christ’s sake!

Then Gwen released a quiet, “Fuck.”

Ok, maybe it was that bad.

 

*****

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** Do you make a habit of taking photos of strangers without their permission? From the-musician-who-was-unaware-he-was-being-photographed-and-now-has-apparenetly-become-the-latest-thing-on-tumblr

 

*****

 

Later in the evening Arthur checked his Tumblr to see if the photographer had replied, after hours of fruitless music writing. Much his delight, and slight surprise he did have a reply. It was a private reply, something Arthur noted absently. His own message was above the reply.

 

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** oh my god, i’m so sorry, you’re not going to sue me are you?

 

Arthur chuckled at the message, feeling slightly cruel. Obviously this poor person was worried that he was angry. He wasn’t really, just more curious than anything else as to why they’d decided to take a picture of him of all things. 

He clicked onto Magic-Emrys’s page, cursing Tumblr’s awful messaging system and typed a reply back. 

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** I’m not angry or American so you don’t need to worry about me suing. What would I even sue you for? No, I’m just curious as to why you decided to take a photo of me. And to why it’s gotten so popular. It’s literally a bloke playing a guitar.

 

He went back to his dashboard and checked his activity and followers list for a moment to see what was new with his account – not much as usual – and was about to log off when his inbox signalled he had a reply. It was a rather speedy reply, and Arthur wondered if the user had been sat waiting anxiously for a response from him. 

 

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** oh thank god. i have no idea but i was sort of worried that you’d be mad. i’m a photography student and i just saw you playing - it was amazing and i’m not sure. i guess i got itchy trigger finger with my camera. i was going to come and speak to you, i swear but my way home pulled up. i don’t know why it’s so popular but i’m glad it is. i’m really proud of it and it means that more people are getting to see my work.

 

Arthur shot off a speedy reply, fingers tapping against the keys of his laptop being the only sound in his apartment, other than the background noise of a game show playing on the television. 

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** Photography? I can’t imagine that’s an especially lucrative career. I believe you, though I can’t say I noticed you. I’m glad people are seeing your work. I understand that part. When I’m not writing music, I’m trying to advertise it. 

 

The response back was even faster than the last one. 

 

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** you can hardly talk about lucrative mr musician. it seems like we both are doomed to live in squalor for our arts – if only people appreciated us more. ;) 

 

Arthur checked the time and groaned. He had to get up even earlier than usual tomorrow to catch the train out of London to visit his sister for breakfast and then he planned to go busking in the afternoon, so he’d have go to bed earlier so he wouldn’t fall over in the street mid-song from exhaustion. 

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** Who says I live in squalor? But indeed, recognition would be nice. I must go now though, I have an early start tomorrow so I need to get to bed now.

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** we are alright though?

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** Yes Magic-Emrys, we are quite alright.

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** brilliant. and merlin.

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** What?

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** my name is merlin.

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** Goodnight Merlin.

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** goodnight guitar man.

 

Arthur closed the lid of his laptop and left it on the kitchen table as he went to get ready for bed. That night he went to sleep with an unexplainable smile on his face.

 

*****

 

It was late when Arthur got back home the following day. Breakfast with Morgana had been predictable. They ate the same food as they did every time they arranged breakfast together (which incidentally was every week), they spoke about the same things they always did, they bickered like usual. But still, it was nice. Despite the fact that he wouldn’t admit, even under threat of death, he was fond of his sister and enjoyed the time he spent with her, that is when she wasn’t criticising him, trying to set him up with her friends or making a fool out of him in front of his friends. So, that actually meant he enjoyed very little time with then since that’s pretty much what she always did. 

What Arthur didn’t really understand was why Morgana didn’t just live in London, like him. She always flat out refused to eat at his apartment, which meant he always had to get an early train to go and visit her in the countryside surrounding London (which was actually pretty far away now that he thought about). It wasn’t like she didn’t spent all her time in London anyway, but when Arthur pointed this out to her she always said that that was exactly why she didn’t live in it.

Arthur rummaged around his fridge to look for a quick easy meal for dinner, so he could just flop on the sofa and watch some shitty tv with some warmed up leftovers before crashing in bed. He found what was left of the night before dinner and chucked into the microwave for a couple of minutes to heat up. He was pretty sure it was still good to eat. Like 95% sure. Ok, maybe closer to like 68% sure. Either way, he was too tired to care and he guessed he’d probably find out later in a nasty way if it wasn’t alright to eat.

As his dinner swirled around in the microwave, Arthur used the time he was given waiting to boot up his laptop and sign into Tumblr. He wasn’t expecting another message from Magic-Emrys, or Merlin as he’d introduced himself, as they’d finished their conversation pretty conclusively the night before, but as the page loaded, it revealed another message in his inbox.

 

 **Magic-Emrys said:** i saw you busking again today in the street

 **OnceandFuture replied:** Stalking me again? Did you take any photos?

 

The reply was once again instant. Arthur began to wonder if Merlin actually did anything other than take photos and go on Tumblr. He was a university student – didn’t have lectures to attend and massive amounts of homework to do? Arthur was so glad he’d dropped out of university. Sure, the course had been interesting enough and he’d made some great mates that he still hung out with but the whole thing just hadn’t been for him at all. He’d been majoring in a business course like his father had wanted him to but he couldn’t carry on doing something he didn’t enjoy. He could have reapplied after his father died, to do a music course like he’d always wanted to but by then he was so used to doing things his own way, it would’ve felt too weird to go back and be taught it.

 

 **Magic-Emrys said:** of course i did. you were really good. like really good. are you signed to anyone?

 **OnceandFuture replied:** If I was signed to anyone, do you think I’d be busking? But thank you Merlin. I appreciate the sentiment.

 

 **Magic-Emrys said:** fair point. though you might do it for screaming hoards of fans that turn up to watch you play  


**OnceandFuture replied:** Ah yes, those masses of fans. Obviously I do it for them. So many turn up that I might need a bodyguard. Are you volunteering? 

 

 **Magic-Emrys said:** not in the slightest. borrow one of my cats. they’d probably be more effective. besides i wouldn’t want to risk damaging this beautiful face of mine because of a teenage fangirl, it’s the only thing i’ve got going for me.

 **OnceandFuture replied:** Speaking of faces, I find it unfair that you know what I look like but I don’t know what you look like. You could be a hairy old man for all I know.

 

*****

 

 **Magic-Emrys** posted a photo: meet my cats kilgharrah and aithusa. the cute looking one in the middle is me.

 **OnceandFuture** liked this.

 

*****

 

‘The cute looking one in the middle is me’. Well. He wasn’t wrong. And it was a he. Turned out, according to the photo, Merlin was a he. Arthur had retained a somewhat neutral stance on the gender of his mystery photographer considering Merlin could be a name for either sex but now all had been revealed – which meant now if Arthur saw him whilst he was busking, he’d know who it was. From the photo, he didn’t recall seeing anyone who fit the profile: sort of gangly, with angular cheekbones, dark hair, luscious lips, slightly large but endearing ears, insanely blue eyes. Arthur probably would have remembered seeing him to be honest. He was cute. Which was not particularly fair. Grown men were not allowed to be cute, and they were especially not allowed to take adorable selfies with their cats. Stupid photographers, with their stupid cats and their stupid cheekbones. As Arthur wrote a reply, his fingers may have hit the keys a little harder than he’d care to admit due to his petulance. 

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** Ok, I’ll admit I’m not really a cat person but that white cat is insanely adorable. 

 

He resisted adding at the end, ‘and so are you’. Arthur gave himself brownie points for that, and then extra ones on top for sending such a cool and collected reply when internally he was just a mess because, really, people didn’t have eyelashes that long naturally. 

Just as Arthur was starting to worry that he was acting like a teenage girl waiting for her boyfriend to call, the microwave beeped to signal its finish. Happy to be distracted, Arthur got up and plated his dinner, grabbing a beer from the fridge and setting everything down on the kitchen table, atop of the papers that he still hadn’t cleaned up. 

 

 **Magic-Emrys replied:** im not sure this relationship is going to work. how can you not be a cat person? everybody likes cats. it’s like a law of the universe. and aithusa is adorable. she’s the furriest little cat i’ve ever seen it’s amazing. i like the fact you didn’t mention anything about kilgharrah though, it says something about you as a person.

 

Arthur clamped for fork between his teeth so he could free his hands to type back.

 

 **OnceandFuture said:** I didn’t realise we had a relationship Merlin, unless there’s something you’d like to tell me. And funny you should say that, it’s what my sister says too. Remind me never to introduce you to her. As for Kilgharrah; well I’m a very firm believer in if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say it at all, and that cat looks positively evil. I’m mildly concerned for your wellbeing. 

**Magic-Emrys replied:** of course we have a relationship: stalker photographer and stalkee. your sister sounds like a very intelligent women and she’s obviously very right. don’t worry about old kilgharrah. i’ve had him since i was a kid, he’s just grumpy. he’s the sort of cat, that if he were human, he’d talk only in riddles because he’d know it would annoy you. aww onceandfuture (i realise only at this point, i don’t actually know your name), i didn’t know you cared. ;)

 

**OnceandFuture said:** Arthur. My name’s Arthur. And you’re wrong. My sister’s a scary dragon lady, though naturally I’m not intimidated by her eyeliner and power suits. 

**Magic-Emrys replied:** naturally. admittedly she does sounds a little scary. i don’t have any siblings but all my friends are like little balls of fluff and knitted cardigans. when they’re not being assholes. 

****

**OnceandFuture said:** Here, here. I find myself in a similar situation apart from the fact most of my mates are rugby playing behemoths. That being said, my largest friend Percy, he’s one of the nicest blokes you’ll ever meet. Friendly giant and all that. 

**Magic-Emrys replied:** haha, filling the stereostype? well i counter that with the fact that i have a friend who’s smaller than me, very bitter about the fact and makes up for it by having long flowing hair, thats better than mine. i should also mention the fact my friend is a male. 

****

**OnceandFuture said:** It sounds like you have hair envy. 

**Magic-Emrys replied:** alas i must admit that i do. i don’t understand how it gets so shiny though? did he sell his soul for it?? his first born?? actually now i’ve just imagined him as a father and its the most horrifying thing ever. i bet his his children would have fabulous hair too. how is that fair? anyways i have to go. my friend is insisting on a star wars marathon and who am i to let her down? 

****

**OnceandFuture said:** May the force me with you then. Remember to sleep at some point and to eat. 

**Magic-Emrys replied:** yes mother. have a good evening arthur! 

****

Arthur shut his laptop and shoveled some food into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. He couldn't help but think the whole situation was strange: how they came across each other, how they were still conversing. It was all, if not, unconventional. But Arthur found himself enjoying it regardless. As he returned his focus back to eating, he made a note in his head to send Merlin a message later to check that he hadn't died in the night from dehydration and lack of sleep. He seemed like the kind of person who actually would and Arthur found himself rather amused by it all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry! I know it's been a few months since and update but it is coming! Hopefully there should be another one before the new year! :) Feel free to subscribe so you don't miss out on it!
> 
> Feel free to leave kudos and comments, feedback is always appreciated and motivates me to write more! Come and find me on Tumblr at **[Owlwithafringe](http://owlwithafringe.tumblr.com/)** , to see updates on fics or to leave me a prompt.


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